anybody else ditch bulking/cutting and just try to look good year round?

[NVR2BIG1]

I've been competing a long time, its always been bulking/cutting/dieting/ overeating etc etc. I was in the grocery store earlier and was about to grab 4 or 5, 18 packs of eggs. But then I ended up just getting 1 pack of eggs when I thought of the cost and knew they'd all be gone in about 3 days and I'd need more. So I picked up a container of cottage cheese instead, figured a little of that to go w/ the eggs would get the protein count up more and save some $. I'm trying to get my abs back and get leaner, but damn if I dont have to find a little different way to do things this time. I just cannot do it like I used to when I was single and had no bills. I might do a show again someday but not anytime soon, but I would like to look good. Usually if I'm not getting ready for a show everything is geared towards size, but now that I'm a little older I'd like to start being healthy and in good cardio condition all the time too. I dont know what the hell I'm saying, I guess what I'm asking is do any of you guys just try to stay in a condition your satisfied with year round rather than the double edged sword deal? And if so what are your tactics? Do you do cardio on a regular basis? Carb cycle? 1 cheat meal/wk, 2 cheats/wk? extra cardio? I know how to get in shape, I'm just wondering if there is a different mind frame when it comes to this, as far as finding a balance between strength/definition. I've always been an all or none guy, get big as hell dont give a shit about fat, or lean as hell dont care about strength

I'm just curious as to what some of you guys do, in the past when I'm trying to lean out I cut out almost all fats, but this time I have to be halfway sensible about it and still have a life.

[oldschoolfitness]

i am def not a competion level but i have worked out for around 15 years; a lot of those didn't have any good knowledge at all. i have used gear spaced out over the last few years. for 2-3yrs in a row none at all until last year. and i was the same bulk at all cost don't worry about fat or being lean. but know i have decided lean is the way to go. and i have actually delayed my current cycle for a good while because the results of a clean diet and steady cardio routine have surprised me. i still lift hard but cut back on so many carbs and fats and high intensity cardio has been great for me.

[bigslick7878]

I've been competing a long time, its always been bulking/cutting/dieting/ overeating etc etc. I was in the grocery store earlier and was about to grab 4 or 5, 18 packs of eggs. But then I ended up just getting 1 pack of eggs when I thought of the cost and knew they'd all be gone in about 3 days and I'd need more. So I picked up a container of cottage cheese instead, figured a little of that to go w/ the eggs would get the protein count up more and save some $. I'm trying to get my abs back and get leaner, but damn if I dont have to find a little different way to do things this time. I just cannot do it like I used to when I was single and had no bills. I might do a show again someday but not anytime soon, but I would like to look good. Usually if I'm not getting ready for a show everything is geared towards size, but now that I'm a little older I'd like to start being healthy and in good cardio condition all the time too. I dont know what the hell I'm saying, I guess what I'm asking is do any of you guys just try to stay in a condition your satisfied with year round rather than the double edged sword deal? And if so what are your tactics? Do you do cardio on a regular basis? Carb cycle? 1 cheat meal/wk, 2 cheats/wk? extra cardio? I know how to get in shape, I'm just wondering if there is a different mind frame when it comes to this, as far as finding a balance between strength/definition. I've always been an all or none guy, get big as hell dont give a shit about fat, or lean as hell dont care about strength

I'm just curious as to what some of you guys do, in the past when I'm trying to lean out I cut out almost all fats, but this time I have to be halfway sensible about it and still have a life.

I have been "bulking" for about 6 months now, and am ready to "cut" soon. It will be an interesting psychological experiment, because I have never really made an effort to "cut" before. I have always been a hardgainer until recently( getting old the metabolism is slowing)so calories have always been a priority. Never done much cardio.

If you have a good base that has been developed like I am sure you do a standard diet to maintain what you have is what I would do. I am not there yet but when I get to where I need to be that is what I will be doing. Going to buy my first piece of cardio equipment later tonight.

I already am getting tired of constantly looking at the clock to make sure I have not missed a meal, and just eating...and eating...and eating some more. I just don't know if I can do it much longer at this point.

But in general I think if you are not where you want to be and are trying to accomplish certain goals you need to be doing one or the other, trying to build muscle or trying to maintain what muscle you have while losing fat. It is just two completely different approaches for one over the other, and unless you are right where you want to be body comp wise I would choose and not try to do both at once.

I guess to summarize it depends where your are and what your goals are at the time. I know I am ready for a change at this point, I just hope I can deal with losing some hard earned muscle and seeing numbers on the scale I am not used to seeing.

[danimal79]

i was doing that for a while. i liked it, and definitely think it's healthier. but i got impatient and started upping the cals again. i'm not completely satisfied with my arms just yet, and think i have another year before i'll be content with cutting down and maintaining, or slow/lean bulking. if you want to know what worked for me when i WAS "maintaining", it was:

-consuming 300 to 500 over maintenance on workout days
-cutting the carbs later in the day
-eating at maintenance on off-days
-going low-carb on off-days, while only consuming heavy starches for breakfast, and getting the rest of my carbs from fruit/veggies
-quitting the creatine

aside from that, why would you cut out all fats when you're "cutting"?

[Machdiesel]

Eventually I would love to do this, as soon as I am 225lbs and 10% bf. Untill then its 5k cals for 6 months then a 2-3 month cut and re-evaluate

[danimal79]

Eventually I would love to do this, as soon as I am 225lbs and 10% bf. Untill then its 5k cals for 6 months then a 2-3 month cut and re-evaluate

5,000 cals a day??? unless you're doing some serious cardio, you're over-eating.

[BigBuck6]

5,000 cals a day??? unless you're doing some serious cardio, you're over-eating.

He might need the calories, I eat anywhere between 6000-7000 per day depending on what my activity levels are. In the past, I have hiked it up a lot higher.

[stevey_6t9]

agreed^^

when i was doing 8-10 hr labouring during holidays for work i wud have to eat around 6000 kcal just to maintain

[Machdiesel]

5,000 cals a day??? unless you're doing some serious cardio, you're over-eating.

Wrong, I'm at 5k cals and only gained 2 pounds the last 2 weeks. Im training DC every M-W-F and do light cardio 3 other days a week. If you wanna weigh 235 you gotta eat like your 235

[danimal79]

Wrong, I'm at 5k cals and only gained 2 pounds the last 2 weeks. Im training DC every M-W-F and do light cardio 3 other days a week. If you wanna weigh 235 you gotta eat like your 235

na bro. like i said, you don't need that many calories, unless you're doing some SERIOUS cardio. the average 200lb male needs anywhere from 2,200 to 2,600 calories (in a day) for maintenance. and if you're only gaining 1lb a week on a 5k diet, you either:

a) aren't counting calories properly, and are not consuming what you think you are

b) need to see a doctor

[JScondition]

Im gonna try a recomp this fall instead of going with the traditional bulk. I'm getting ready for gyno surgery in Jan and don't want extra fat in there when surgery time comes. It'll be different, but we'll see how it goes.

right now I am clean bulking with moderate intake of carbs... when I start the recomp in Oct I will be cutting my carbs down slightly and increase pro slightly to see how it goes. Never did a recomp before so don't even know if Im doing it right. We'll see i guess.

[BigBuck6]

na bro. like i said, you don't need that many calories, unless you're doing some SERIOUS cardio. the average 200lb male needs anywhere from 2,200 to 2,600 calories (in a day) for maintenance. and if you're only gaining 1lb a week on a 5k diet, you either:

a) aren't counting calories properly, and are not consuming what you think you are

b) need to see a doctor

While your argument does have some merit, most of us are not average males. Your stats say 5'9" @ 165lbs. I'm 6'5" @ 250lbs bro plus I surf almost everyday with lifting and life's other challenges.

Argument aside remembering back to undergrad days ACSM standards are 18-22 calories per day per pound of body weight (check my numbers fellas i'm running off memory) to increase in lean mass. With that equation, your numbers are a bit low and an ACTIVE male looking to gain lean muscle mass should consume somewhere around 3600-4400 calories per day.

[Dukkit]

im at 4500 cals a day... staying same weight. lift 5 days a week. no cardio. so im maintaining.

its all on your metabolism

i bulked on 5200 cals last winter and gained 19 lbs... but kept my abs. no cardio

i eat a pack of oreos and cookiedough at least once a week... still have my abs.

no cardio

and my job isnt physical...

so to say that hes overeating. or needs to see a doc is retarded.

it depends on your body

[danimal79]

While your argument does have some merit, most of us are not average males. Your stats say 5'9" @ 165lbs. I'm 6'5" @ 250lbs bro plus I surf almost everyday with lifting and life's other challenges.

surfing, as well as the word "active" would fall under my reference of "serious cardio", so we're basically saying the same thing.

Argument aside remembering back to undergrad days ACSM standards are 18-22 calories per day per pound of body weight (check my numbers fellas i'm running off memory) to increase in lean mass. With that equation, your numbers are a bit low and an ACTIVE male looking to gain lean muscle mass should consume somewhere around 3600-4400 calories per day.

my numbers aren't a bit low at all, especially in comparison to yours - they're right on track. my numbers were in reference to MAINTENANCE CALORIES. so if the average 200lb male's maintenance is between 2,200 and 2,600, then he would have to consume between 2,700 and 3,100 a day to gain 1lb per week of lean mass. you could even up it to between 3,200 and 3,600 for 2lbs per week of lean mass. anything much more than that is falling under the line of excessive, and 5,000+ is just pointless imo.

a lot of people think you have to eat like a horse to gain muscle. this is only half true. regardless of how hard you lift, and how much you eat, there's only so much muscle your body can put on, which means there's only so many calories (among other things) that are needed to do the job. just because you consume it, doesn't mean it's needed.

and don't let my stats fool you. i got myself up over 185 at one point, before i took time off from lifting and dropped down. that may not sound impressive to you, but my ultimate goal is to be a lean 175ish, and then i plan on maintaining year-round. i started out around 140 (being generous) as a skinny-fat kid with ZERO muscle, and no definition to speak of lol.

the point is, i've bulked many ways. i dirty-bulked and ate over 4,000 calories a day for a year straight, because the big guys on forums said i should. and it worked...i DID put on size! but i also put on more fat than i wanted to.

a couple years ago i saw a video with ronnie coleman. at the time, the mr olympia standards were changing, and they were beginning to set strict judging for bloated midsections. so ronnie was talking about how he cut the calories a lot, and risked some extra size for the sake of slimming his waist. but what he saw was that when it was all said and done (bulk/cut) he gained about the same amount of lean mass as had hoped to (before the mandate), WITH LESS CALORIES. in his words:

"you don't have to eat that much. as long as you train hard, the size is gonna come. i see that now." -ronnie coleman

so i tried it...and he was right. like i said...unless you have a physical problem, or you are doing a ton of cardio, you don't need to go overboard with your calories.

[NVR2BIG1]

there comes a point when you either have the right chemicals in ur body to grow, or you do not. I def think there is a point where whether its 6,000 cals/day, 3,000/day, 8,000/day ,whatver, u gotta have the chems